It's been a sunny season of eating fresh fruit and a lot of simple cooking. Earlier this summer I really wanted to create a different lemon tart, but still very familiar. I love a delicate & tangy lemon curd with an extra buttery tart base, a classic for a reason. It's common to top it off with a cloud of torched meringue, but I didn't want that. More decidedly, I didn't need that. Just some whipped cream with a touch of elderflower cordial and strawberries, the first of the season (can you tell how late this summer post is?). I find that in the summer whenever I am holding a piece of fruit or contemplating what to eat for dinner, less is more.

Summer is flying by, it's already August! Taking advantage of this beautiful warm weather in NYC (minus that one week of humidity and rain), we are running a pina colada inspired special. This golden pineapple is a coconut semifreddo with a pineapple center. The center consists of fresh, diced pineapple cooked in brown sugar, rum, vanilla, orange, lemon, and a hint of cinnamon. The bottom is a soft and chewy coconut cake. The outside is sprayed with a light coating of Orelys chocolate and cocoa butter to create a light and thin shell. Orelys is part of Valrhona's newest line of blond chocolate and made with muscovado sugar (yes to unrefined sugar!) and it's notes of molasses go great with the coconut and pineapple. The crown of this pineapple is made with sliced, candied, and dehydrated pineapple. It's a refreshing and satisfying ending to a summer meal.

I know Summer has arrived when there is the sound of ice cream trucks wafting through the humid air, there is a quiet stillness in the air, and all I want is something refreshing and cold, especially dessert. One of my favorite things to eat when it is sweltering out is ice cream, hence this dessert that is currently on the menu. This sweet dish is reminiscent of a Creamsicle, with its orange curd, and vanilla-flecked quark cheesecake. I was inspired when using quark, a fresh cheese, and citrus together, just how much it reminded me of a classic orange Creamsicle. This dessert is an homage to the hot summer afternoons of my childhood chasing down the ice cream truck for a cold treat. A quark cheesecake entremet is molded, with an orange curd center and vanilla cake on the bottom. The quark cheesecake is flecked with vanilla beans, lemon and orange zest. There is orange sauce on the bottom to boost the orange flavor. All this is paired with a tarragon sherbet and orange sorbet that has been swirled together, adding another element of Creamsicle flavor. For texture, we add a white chocolate meringue, using Valrhona Opalys, the white chocolate adding depth to the dairy elements in the dish. To finish this off, anise flowers, for a fennel-esque kick to aid the hint of tarragon flavor. All this equals a very light and refreshing dessert, an adult homage to a childhood classic.

I call this a deconstructed cannoli in the loosest possible way. I remember a dessert that I learned in one the first restaurant I worked in, that was an interpretation of a cannoli. It was one of my favorite desserts, and whenever I plated it, I would inevitably eat some of the mise en place involved. Instead of the traditional shell, we fried up pasta strips that would be topped with confectioners sugar. It was delicious and funnily enough, tasted like funnel cake. I sought to recreate this aspect for the dessert, but changed everything else. This is comprised of deep fried pasta strips, whipped ricotta with honey and vanilla, and super ripe figs and strawberries. It's pretty simplistic, and I sought to add more to the dish. I played around with pistachio honey, caramelized nuts, ice cream, but in the end, I left it as is. When the fruit is ripe, the ricotta is fluffy and smooth, and deep fried pasta warm from the fryer and topped with sugar, that's all you need.

Al fresco dining in the evening breeze as we sat next to the sweetest couple. Even though there was a language barrier, we managed to communicate and laugh all evening. One of the best memories of our trip.

The land of truffles did not disappoint.

Picture perfect.

Sunkissed and soaking all the beauty of this magical place.

Exploring and wandering around the city while music wafted through the air. Turns out, they were rehearsing for a music festival debuting that evening.